


an unlikely duo

by pepper_407



Category: Revenge (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, I wrote this with nolan/emilys being qpps in mind but just ignore that if you want, Nonbinary Character, Season/Series 02, also blink and you'll miss it reference to emily being asexual, mentions of Emily Thorne, or at least potential for it, set suring the back-ish end of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27064699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepper_407/pseuds/pepper_407
Summary: Daniel needs round two of dating Emily Thorne to go so much better than last time so he attempts to befriend maybe the most important person in her life, Nolan Ross
Relationships: Daniel Grayson & Nolan Ross
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	an unlikely duo

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe the first revenge fic i wrote was from daniel's pov omfg

This time around Daniel is going to do it right. Well, they do have to date in secret for a while but he knows that he will definitely get that sorted as soon as he can and until then he can work on really being with Emily and understanding her in a way that he didn't focus on before. He put too much pressure (unintentional or not) on Emily becoming part of his family, his world and not enough pressure on himself on becoming part of hers. And while his girlfriend (that word feels too casual but also maybe too serious, they have never discussed it but he loves her) has no parents left for him to attempt to woo, she does have Nolan Ross and Jack Porter.

And now, Daniel doesn't think Emily is still hung up on Jack Porter, seeing as how she was the maid of honour at his wedding (a wedding and marriage Daniel tries not to think about even though he shouldn't even have that luxury) but he knows that he isn't quite past what happened last time and the fact that he and Emily haven't actually ever had a conversation about it makes Daniel sure that maybe he should wait to approach Jack with Emily, plus as they are technically a secret right now he isn't sure Porter even knows about their rekindling. But one person he is completely certain knows is Nolan Ross.

Daniel really wished he had made some attempt to be kind to him last year or this year during the time that he screwed over Nolcorp because this conversation is going to be so far out of his comfort zone already and maybe if they were on lightly alright grounds it would be slightly less awkward as all hell. So as he makes his way over to Nolan's place he reads through his Wikipedia page to try to find things they have in common that don't include his girlfriend, who he is pretty sure isn't completely sure isn't in love with her, he never really got that vibe and maybe it was because he kind of thought Nolan was gay before the whole Padma thing -something else to not bring up, wow he should really be writing this shit down. But Nolan has a relationship with Emily that he doesn't really understand, they are closer than Daniel can explain and they understand each other in a way that makes Daniel jealous but he probably just needs to spend more time with them together to really understand their relationship, which is something that hopefully after this informal surprise bonding session can happen, as long as today isn't a total disaster.

Once he arrives at the door of the house Daniel realises that he probably should have called first but he is just used to people making themselves ready for him that he didn't consider. He will knock soon but there is one thing he saw on Emily's computer before she quickly closed it that he wants to check out and also he is embarrassingly nervous so he thinks this will at least be doing something semi-productive. He knows Emily keeps things from him, he's not a moron but he's pretty sure it's mostly stuff about her past, about her parents and her time in juvie and he desperately wants her to open up to him but he can't really blame her for not, he needs to be someone she can come to. And he would never snoop on her computer but she was looking at this while he was at her place which makes him feel like maybe this is a safer topic, so yeah this might not be something she wants him to know about but he googles the word _asexual_ and bookmarks and a few things to look into later because Daniel is starting to feel weird about just standing outside this house.

He knocks exactly once before the door is opened with a flourish that he can't help but be impressed by, "I guess I should have assumed that the youngest tech mogul possibly ever would have hidden security cameras in front of his house" Daniel says, trying not to sound too rattled by the fact that Nolan knows he was standing outside for an abnormal amount of time

Nolan gives him this smile that indicates that he's intrigued as hell as to why Daniel Grayson is at his door attempting to suck up to him but there is no way he is going to ask and just motions for him to enter

Which he does and looks around, not quite sure _what_ he's looking for and waits for Nolan to say something because now that he is here he suddenly has no idea what to say. Daniel has another look around and sees a framed photo of Nolan and Emily and realises that this is his only chance and decides to lead with, "Tetris huh? It really should've gone to the Olympics"

"And what was The Daniel Grayson doing on little ole' me's Wikipedia page?"

"Well, I just thought maybe we should get to know each other?"

"You didn't get to know me enough when you screwed me over in order to get Nolcorp?"

"No, I don't think so"

Nolan must realise that Danel isn't going anywhere anytime soon and tells him to head out to the deck and he will be out in a second, so Daniel does what he says because he has no idea what else to do and heads out to the deck, takes a seat and waits, feeling like he really needs to get the upper hand somehow and wonders what the hell his mother would think if she saw this scene

"So, seriously, do I like, owe you money or something?" Nolan questions as soon as he comes out to join him

"Is that the only reason people visit your house?" Daniel replies, knowing it was a weak comeback

"It's one of the only reasons a Grayson would visit my house"

Daniel doesn't want him to bring up other reasons that a Grayson could be visiting his house so he decides to just the get on with it because he does have an appointment later this evening that he doesn't really want to go to but also can't be late for, "It's about Emily"

That sobers Nolan up, any kind of vague and weird banter they had going on immediately disappears and Daniel instantly wishes he had phrased that better because as soon as he utters that Nolan asks "What did you do?" He feels like this whole situation was in no way a good idea

"Sorry man, nothing, I meant in a wider sense, just about her, you know"

"Don't call me man" Nolan says, seemingly before he even had a chance to think it and immediately put his hands to his mouth

Daniel did not expect that so just mumbles out an "Uh, sorry?"

"No, uh all good"

"Is everything else alright?" Daniel asks because he doesn't want to be having whatever this conversation is really but it does feel like a positive step into becoming friendly and when he said that Nolan looked at him in a new kind of way, a slightly positive one even

"Just don't say man, or dude in reference to me and we're all good, Grayson"

"Maybe you can call me Daniel?"

"Not Danny?"

"No, _mom_ " And somehow referencing his mother, Victoria Grayson herself, got a smile out of Nolan and he realises he had done something right

"Sooo, you came about Emily?"

"Oh yeah it's not a big deal or anything, I just thought the two most important-" He was going to say men but after that small interaction with Nolan he feels like that's maybe the wrong move and continues with "-Important people in Emily's life should maybe be on better terms, be friendly, or friendly adjacent, you know"

Nolan looks like he wants to argue the phrase of two most important people but Daniel knows exactly who he would suggest in place of him so when Nolan just slightly nods and says "I can consider getting on board with being friendly adjacent" Daniel takes it for the win he knows it is

He does have to get going but feels like a dick until he notices Nolan not so subtly texting someone rather quickly so he says, "I have a meeting in the city so I have to go now if I'm going to make in time"

"Well, this was definitely an afternoon that historians will write about"

"It was, uh, good seeing you, when you tell Emily about this please make me sound a little less lame than I felt"

"Oh, never, you are going to come off just as pathetic as you are" But he says those words that could easily be so cutting in a way that makes it feel like this afternoon was a genuinely good idea and Daniel hasn't made a complete idiot out of himself and that he is glad that he didn't listen to any internal bullshit that came from being raised by his parents. He realises that he had somewhat of a good time and maybe gets why Emily is so attached to Nolan Ross.

**Author's Note:**

> comments feed my actual being <3


End file.
